The Shortcut
by That One Random Kid
Summary: When Dib and Gaz are trapped at an old farmhouse for the night, will Dib's ghost studies prove not to be just another reason to call him crazy? one-shot, kinda creepy. just read it! especially if u like unexpected endings, cuz i luv em! and REVEIW IT!


**Ok… so I know that all the fans of my story Weakness are gonna say the same thing. And I know, I should be working on posting the next chapter of that! And I am! I have a terrible case of writers block (the most terrible of all plagues) so I was brainstorming. This random, sort of creepy little one-shot just popped up out of nowhere, so here goes nothing. **

**I don't feel like saying the whole disclaimer thing, so GIR will take care of it for me.**

**GIR: My fwiend Tori don't own us here at Invader Zim. She do like to borrow me lots though!**

**Me: Thank you. Very good.**

**And by the way, don't ask me how old Dib is; I just needed him to be able to drive, ok?**

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Despite the fact that Dib had just replaced the old headlights on his truck with some brighter ones that he'd made himself, the road ahead of him was still dark. He sighed. If only Gaz hadn't tried to convince him to take this "shortcut" on the way home from the mall, he wouldn't be in this mess. What was so great about a Gameslave 3 anyway?

Dib glanced at his younger sister, who sat beside him, already playing the game. "Does _any_ of this look familiar to you?" he asked hopefully. "Quiet," she said.

"You're the one who drove us here. You can find the way back."

"This is YOUR shortcut!"

"Be. Quiet. I'm in the zone."

Dib rolled his eyes. When Gaz was "in the zone", there was no telling how long it would be before she… came out of the zone? Whatever. The sky was starting to get cloudy, just making the old country road even spookier. What worried Dib most was that the gas light had come on almost fifteen minutes ago, and there was no sign of civilization for miles. "Are you sure this is the right shortcut?" Dib asked, trying again to pry information from his little sister. She only hunched lower over her game. Still in the zone, it appeared.

There were a couple of old houses around here. Most were in pretty bad shape and appeared to be empty. Dib shivered as they passed an old run down barn. These places would be great for some paranormal investigation if it weren't such a cold and miserable night. And maybe if there were more people around. Just in case. The gas light blinked again, and there was a beeping sound that made Dib nearly jump out of his skin.

"You're gonna run out of gas," Gaz said, finally deciding to speak.

"I'll be fine! There's probably a gas station right up here!"

"You're gonna run out of gas," Gaz repeated.

"No I'm not!" Dib protested, although he could feel the car starting to slow down. He pressed his foot harder onto the gas pedal. The car lurched, but then started to slow again. As the car eased almost to a stop, Dib floored it and managed to get them a couple more feet. The tired old truck stopped in front of an old farm house.

"You ran out of gas."

Dib sighed and dug his fingernails into the steering wheel. "Yes. Yes I did." Gaz continued playing away with her Gameslave, and the little blips and beeps started to get on Dib's nerves. "Does this even _bother_ you?" Dib asked. "Eh…" Gaz replied with a casual shrug. Dib swung his door open and looked up and down the street, but he didn't see any lights. Even if he squinted.

What made it creepier was that there weren't even any sounds on the road, and the clouds in the sky were starting to cover up the pale moonlight that offered them something to see with. Dib reached into the car and rummaged through the items in the cup holders, hoping to find his cell phone. His hand closed around the little oval-shaped item, and he grinned as the beam of light lit up the car. Could they be saved? Dib started shifting through his phonebook when he noticed that the little sign in the corner had no bars. Of course. No signal out here on these country roads.

Well, at least there was no possible way for it to get any worse. Of course, as you readers know, that is something that you should _never_ say; or even think in this case. A raindrop thumped against the screen of Dib's phone, splattering and leaving a big blur on the top of the screen. Then another hit his nose. Dib groaned and climbed back into the cab of his truck, slamming and locking the door behind him.

"What are we gonna do Gaz? We can't just sit here! We could get eaten, or abducted by aliens, or-"

"OR we could just go into that house _right there_ for a little while!"

"What? No way! That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard! It could be infested or haunted or-"

"Whiner. I'm going," Gaz said, interrupting him yet again. With that, the little purple-haired girl opened her door and started walking across the yard to the old house. "Gaz!" Dib called. His sister didn't even turn around to look at him. "Well… I guess it's better than being all alone out here," Dib told himself, even if it probably wasn't true. Dib jumped out of the car and slammed the door shut behind him, taking one last look around before following his sister into the eerie old house.

Gaz was already on the porch when Dib ran up beside her. Gaz reached for the doorknob and turned it. "Is it locked?" Dib asked, sort of hoping it was and sort of hoping it wasn't. "Don't think so." Gaz gave it another hard turn and slammed herself against the door. With a loud creek it swung open, revealing the extremely dark and dusty house within. There was still a bit of furniture strewn about the room in different places, most of it very old looking. There was a single light bulb overhead, which Dib seriously doubted would work at all.

Gaz hopped up on a stool and reached up to pull the chain. The light flickered as came on, casting a creepy and dim light that did nothing but make the room more ugly and scary looking. Then Gaz hopped down and walked into the next room, all while never breaking concentration on her game. Dib scratched his head. How could someone be that… obsessed? Concentrated? Whatever.

Suddenly, there was a clicking sound from nearby. "Hello?" Dib called, whirling around and searching for the source of the sound. A shadow flickered in and out of his vision, but that was all. "Huh," Dib murmured. "Suspicious."

"Be quiet!"

Dib walked into the next room, trying to shake this feeling that he was being watched by someone. Gaz was sitting in an old rocking chair, still deeply involved in her game. "You didn't make a… clicking sound, did you?" A small grin planted itself on Gaz's face for just an instant, but quickly disappeared. "No."

"Oh."

Dib turned around and looked out the window, hoping a car would come by. No such luck.

"_Dib!"_ a voice hissed.

Dib jumped, and then looked over to Gaz. "What was that?"

"I didn't hear anything."

"But didn't you… just say something?"

"Your voice is annoying. I'm trying to beat this level."

Dib shook his head. Maybe he really _was_ crazy. He strolled back into the room that he'd been in when he first entered the house, the one with the light. There didn't seem to be anyone there, yet there were these small noises every now and then. "Mice." Dib concluded. He smiled, proud of himself for figuring things out once again. "Gaz!" he said. "I figured it out!" Dib expected to hear some kind of short, rude comment from his sister, but there was only silence. "Gaz?"

Dib slowly made his way back into the room with the rocking chair, peering through the doorway. "Gaz?" The rocking chair was slowly moving back in forth, but Dib's little sister was no longer sitting there playing her game. "G-Gaz?" The sound of heavy footfalls behind him caused Dib to whirl around on his heels, eyes quickly scanning the room for Gaz… or anyone for that matter.

"Gaz!"

There was a sound of eerie and evil laughter echoing from somewhere in the house, and Dib felt his pulse speed up and his palms start to sweat. When something grabbed his shoulder, he lost it. Screaming in terror, Dib dashed back toward the front door. A spooky blue glow was now emitting from the front room, along with the dim light bulb, and the laughter had not stopped. It was now joined by another laughing voice. "GAZ!" Dib screamed, stumbling into the front room.

The blue glow vanished, and a camera flashed. Dib stopped, taking a look at his surroundings as the evil tone in the laughter turned humorous. Gaz was standing there in the center of the room, doubled over in laugher. Zim stood to her left, holding a camera and wiping a tear from his eye. Dib's jaw dropped. "W-What…?" Gaz was the first to contain her laughter enough to speak.

"Your… your face!" she breathed, before erupting into another fit of hysterics.

"So wait… you two _planned_ all of this?"

Zim nodded. "What did you expect, Dib-stink?"

"Oh I know!" Gaz said, smiling for longer than Dib had ever seen. She hadn't smiled that wide even when she got her first Gameslave. "He was expecting there to be some kind of evil _ghost!_" Zim and Gaz's laughter only grew louder. Dib didn't see how this was so funny. "B-But what about that clicking noise?"

Zim's spider legs sprouted from his PAK and he tapped them against the wall, producing the exact same noise that Dib had heard before. "Well, who whispered my name then?"

Gaz raised her hand. "You should know I'm capable of some pretty creepy voices Dib."

"Well…" Dib said, feeling his cheeks turn pink. Was he really that gullible? "Who grabbed my shoulder?" Zim and Gaz looked at each other, their laughter subsiding.

"It wasn't me," Zim said.

"Well, you got me there," mumbled Gaz.

Hey, maybe Dib was finally getting somewhere! "And what was with that blue glow?"

"Oh," said Gaz, jabbing her thumb at the empty room behind her. "GIR's eyes."

Dib peeked around Gaz's shoulder, looking for the little guy. "GIR?" he said. "But he's not even here!" Zim and Gaz turned around, glancing around the room in confusion. "He was here just moments ago," Zim said. "GIR! Come here!" There were no sounds, and Zim's little servant did not appear. The light bulb flickered again, and went out.

"GIR?"

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**Gosh, that ending creeps me out, and I wrote it! I scared myself… haha! I'm sure GIR will cheer me up… GIR?**

**0_0**

**~runs from room screaming in terror~**


End file.
